Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1887-11-17
On ENGLISH RAILWAYS.
THE USUAL LINE OF PROMOTION FOR
ENGINE DRIVERS.
A Boys Beginning in Locomotive Shed,
appointment as Fireman-Freight En-.
gineer, or Goods Driver',-Passenper
Fireman Next-Final Position.

puonc and very responsible. The fact is that
the engine driver, who must not only be
skilled III the technicalities of his business.
but must possess intellectual and moral quali-
ties OF high order, has never risen above
the rank OF the artisan; nor does he pretend
TO rise above it, and yet he must be almost as
capable and as dutiful as the captain of q
ship or the commander of regiment The
workman, whose cool judgment and unceas-
ing watchfulness are more serviceable than
any mere manual skill he may possess, is
worthy attention.
Engine drivers are neither born nor made;
they grow. You cannot apprentice boy to
engine driving. Engine driving, however, is
the goal of the ambition Of most boys who
begin their working life in locomotive shed.
From being kind of "devil" to everybody
the boy gradually becomes Cleaner" Sup
piled with bundle of cotton waste, he rubs
over the working parts Of the engine, and
thus acquires knowledge of its construction.
AT this work he may be kept four or five
years. If he is fit for nothing better he re-
mains at it all his life. But if he is steady,
quick and handy he is sure to attract the no
tlce OF the foreman, and the foreman occa-
sionally calls on him to fire an engine, or
haply to run one out of or into the she'd 1t
is proud day for him when he first steps on
the foot plate Of an engine, charged to drive
1t few yardS-out into siding, perhaps, or
up to the train to which it is to be attached.
From this point everything depends on him.
self. By and by he obtains an appointment
as fireman, most likely on an engine which is
never engaged in hazardous work. Perhaps
it is pug engine doing yard or station duty,
and never permitted on the main line or prin-
cipal sidings. Here the growing engine
driver learns something of the weight of
trains, of the regular supply of steam, OF the
relation between the steam pressure and the
work to be done, of economiZing coal and
generally of the management and working of
an engine. Then a vacancy occurs among
the hremen on the regular goods traffic and
"the most steady and promising young hand
in the shed" is promoted. He now obtains a
knowledge of "the road" learns to read the
signals, as well as the other multtudinous
signs by which the experienced engine driver
feels his way along, and of course becomes
proficient in the art of keeping up the motive
power to the point needed by the driver He
may even now be working merely on a
branch or on a slow goods train; but he is de-
cidedly getting on He fathoms the mys-
teries of shunting. Billiard players will un-
derstand what we mean when say that in
shunting strength" is everything The en-
gine, like cue, propels the trucks with just
sufficient force, and no more, to land them at
the desired spot, the engine itself pulling up
as soon as the momentum has been applied.
From goods freight fireman he is pro-
NOTED to goods driver; an important move.
He already knows the road, can read the sig
mails and gauge the weight of a train but he
has yet to learn how to keep time on jour
ney, how to regulate the break so as not to
waste power, how to utilize "straights" and
descents, how to climb hills and go safely
round curves. Goods trains not being greatly
pressed for time, he has a good margin to
work upon, and after few journeys his
difficulties disappear. Not only can he
work his train in perfect accordance
with the system laid down; not only does
he learn by heart the signals, points, gradients
and other features of the road, but he
is able to detect weak spots in the permanent
way In such cases he scribbles line on a
piece of paper and throws it out to the first
platelayer he passes. That generally suffices;
! but if not, he makes a report to the chief
engineer. He does not know what it is-bal-
last shifted, sleeper broken, chair defective,
or rail giving way; but he feels there is
something wrong, and until it is put right he
passes over the spot with such caution as to
neutralize the danger His phase as goods
| driver is one of the most important in his
progress.
But he has not yet done with stoking. His
next step is as passenger fireman. His other
qualities, if he possesses them, are now
coming into play. 1t is true he has simply to
maintain the motive power for the service of
the driver but he is something better than
the boy who blows the organ bellows. He is
the drivers companion and helpmate; he is
probably as competent as the driver himself;
and he necessarily exercises moral infu-
ence which, if strong, proves invaluable to
both of them in case of emergency. One
might almost compare them to companion
lighthouse keepers. Should an accident
occur it is the fireman's duty to run forward
with a danger flag, just as it is the rear
guards duty to run back and "protect" fol-
lowing train. Then from passenger fireman
he becomes passenger driver. But there is a
great difference in passenger drivers. The
one whose development we have traced is one
of the best. Passing over his stages of en-
ployment on branch lines, slow main line
trains, specials and SO on, we come to his
final phase as the driver of the great express
the Flying Dutchman, Scotchman, or Zulu,
or the Wild Irishman, as the reader may
choose to suppose.
What is his position nows Well, he is
man whose efficiency and character will from
any point of view stand the severest tests.
He is an expert whose training has been OF
the most gradual, minute and thorough de-
scription, who has climbed step by step to the
top of the ladder, where bis foothold is now
as firm as if he were standing on the solid
ground. His wages are (say) ten shillings
day; his working hours are fifty-six to fifty
seven week; he is exposed to all sorts OF
weather-very peculiar it is, too, on the foot
plate of locomotive with your feet scorched
by the heat while the bitter east wind freezes
the moisture on your beard; and he is charged
with the duty Of taking (say) 800 passengers
from London to Exeter, or Glasgow, or
Edinburgh, or Holyhead within a certain
time, at an average speed OF fifty miles an
hour. From the moment he starts to the
moment he arrives he is under constant
strain. Not only are the pecularities OF the
road, which he knows from experience, to be
noticed; but every mile or two there is some
official signal put up for him to read. Level
crossings, points, tunnels, bridges, viaducts.
stations, platelayers, gradients, curves-al
these he must look out for. Consider the
oneration of climbing and descending sum-
,n;t or descending AMI then climbing a
.yailey." At these times the drivers han1 Is
T. '.A course of few